Maurice Paykel - CBE

1 Nov

Between 1934 and 1938, Maurice Paykel and Woolf Fisher sold imported fridges and washing machines. But import controls imposed by the Savage Labour government encouraged local manufacturing and Fisher & Paykel started making its own machines.

The business remained with the Fisher and Paykel families for 45 years until it was floated in 1979.

Paykel was joint managing director from 1963-75 and chairman and managing director after Fisher's death in 1975. He also had other directorships and was chairman of the Sir Woolf Fisher Trust, a member of the New Zealand Inventions Development Authority, a member and chairman of the Medical Research Council and active in the Laura Fergusson Trust.